Handmade Spark Bloggers Challenge Five

Spark 5: What Have You Learned This Year?

What a loaded question – what have I learned this year.  Well, I’ve already delved into the crafter vs. Artist revelation I had – I would say that was one of my main lessons.

Other things:

• Unless it’s an AMAZING sale I will never do another outdoor craft fair.  I was at one last year where we were evacuated into the library because of a tornado and I had to leave EVERYTHING outside being protected simply by my tent!  Talk about panic!  Luckily, pretty much everything survived, the tornado never came through, and I eventually dried out. 
• The best profit made is when you create something and can reproduce it so you only have to do your photography session and editing one time through.  Unfortunately, these are my least favorite types of projects. 
• A clean craft room makes me less creative (although I do plan on cleaning mine at the beginning of the year so I have a fresh start).
• Etsy teams are IMPORTANT and really do help your business!
• Even though treasury making isn’t quite as fun as it was when you had to time it just right, I still enjoy making them. 
• I’m in love with the Madison area crafters – each show that I do with them and meet even more of them makes me more and more excited to be a part of the indie scene right now.